People's Veto Application Packet

Article IV, Part Third, Sections 17, 19, 20, and 22 of the Maine Constitution and Title 21-A, Chapter 11 address the procedures relative to a people's veto referendum.

Any Maine registered voter may circulate a people's veto referendum by following these steps:

The voter must submit a written application to the Secretary of State. The completed application must contain the names, addresses and signatures of 5 Maine registered voters, in addition to the applicant, who are designated to receive any notices related to the processing of the application. The voter submitting the application must sign it in the presence of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State's designee or a notary public. The application must contain either the full text of or a reference to the public law to be vetoed.

Within 10 business days after receiving the application, the Secretary of State must review the application and either reject it, or accept it, and provide the ballot question to the applicant.

After the Secretary of State has provided the ballot question to the applicant, the Division of Elections will provide an approved petition form to be circulated by the petitioners. The proponents must print or duplicate additional petition forms as needed, in the exact format provided by the Secretary of State. The approved petition form must include the following specifications:

A. Printed on paper no larger than 11 x 17 inches
B. Text of the legislation
C. Ballot question and title (conspicuously placed on the face of the petition)
D. Instructions for petitioners
E. Common reasons signatures are rejected
F. Circulator's Verification
G. Certification of the Registrar

Petitions may be circulated by any Maine registered voter.

Filing Deadlines

The filing deadlines for people's veto referenda are determined as follows:

An application for a people's veto referendum petition must be filed with the Secretary of State within 10 business days after adjournment of the legislative session at which the Act in question was passed.

The filing deadline for a people's veto referendum petition is by 5 p.m. on the 90th day after adjournment of the legislative session at which the Act was passed.

Signatures totaling 10% (61,123) of the votes cast for Governor in 2014 are required.